MADISON, Wisconsin - February 22, 2011 - Amid the largest protests Madison, Wisconsin has seen in decades, newly elected Republican Governor Scott Walker last week issued a stark message to public labor unions occupying the capitol building: we have options, and using the National Guard against protesters is among them.
Since then, myrad rumors have circulated through crowds gathered at the state capitol, united in protest of a bill that would strip public unions of their collective bargaining rights. One rumor, which has not yet come to pass, even suggested that like Egypt's former dictator did in Tahrir Square, Governor Walker might call in police to forcibly clear out the Capitol.
According to a Wisconsin police union president, whether the police agree or disagree with their governor's politics, they would "absolutely" carry out any order given to them... even if that order included using force against their fellow Americans gathered in peaceful protest.
That's the message from Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association (WLEA) executive board president Tracy Fuller, who's organization recently issued a statement condemning the governor's attempt to strip public unions of their collective bargaining rights. Fuller is also a Wisconsin State Patrol inspector.
Nevertheless, he said, they would all still don riot gear and "do their jobs", even if Walker's order was to suppress the protests.
He said that the conversation of resisting an order to attack the protesters "hasn't even come up" between his fellow officers.
However, Fuller insisted, "I can't even imagine that the governor or anybody else would think that's a viable option. The protesters are not being violent. It's their right to come and protest; it's public property. The politicians are being allowed to come and go... I don't know why there would be the need for clearing anything. It would not look like the United States if we did that."
He also said it was possible, given America's history, that some agents provocateur could infiltrate the protesters to stir up trouble.
But Fuller cautioned, "any action like that would not be something I recognize as the United States of America. That would be something that dictatorships in foreign countries do."
